Ring Road traffic chokes as DTC bus breaks down

Residents of the national capital had to face a huge traffic jam on Thursday afternoon after a Delhi Transport Corporation low-floor bus broke down on the Ring Road. Absence of traffic police officers ensured that the problem persisted for long hours.

At around 2 pm, a low-floor AC DTC bus no - DL 1PC 9229 broke down on AIIMS flyover. The parked bus brought the traffic movement to a grinding halt within a radius of about six kilometres.

Delhi traffic police failed to remove the bus from the flyover as a result of which commuters going towards Dhaula Kuan from Maharani Bagh got stuck on the Ring Road for several hours.

‘I had to go for a meeting with my client in Safdarjung Enclave. But for the past two hours, I have only managed to cover a distance of half a kilometre,’ Arman Gosh, a marketing executive in Delhi, said.

When Millennium Post visited the choked stretch around 3.15 pm, it was found that two ambulances were stuck in the jam. The driver of one of the ambulances stuck near South Extension said, ‘I am in a hurry to reach AIIMS to ensure that the ambulance service is available for patients. I am coming from east Delhi after dropping the discharged patient.’

The places that were affected by the long traffic snarls were Maharani Bagh, Ashram, Lajpat Nagar, Moolchand, South Extension and AIIMS among others. Apart from the breakdown of DTC bus, the other reason that added to the jam was the Metro construction work near Ashram, Lajpat Nagar and South Extension.

No traffic police officer was available to ensure smooth movement of vehicles. 

The DTC bus could be removed from the flyover only around 8.30 in the evening after which the traffic movement eased out.